A former Director, Legal Services of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Grace Taiga has been remanded in Suleja prison, in Niger State for alleged bribery and others leading to the $9.6 billion damages awarded against Nigeria by a UK Court.
Taiga was arraigned at a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Apo, Abuja on Friday on an eight-count charge. The judge ordered her remand in prison until 25 September, 2019 when her bail application would be heard.
Taiga pleaded not guilty to the charge in which she was, among others, accused of receiving bribe, through her offshore bank account in signing the Gas Supply Processing Agreement (GSPA) between P&ID Limited and the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Petroleum Resources Ministry on January 11, 2019, and over which an arbitration panel, which sat in London awarded about $9.6 billion damages against Nigeria.
After she pleaded to the charge, filed and being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), her lawyer, Ola Olanipekun (SAN), prayed the court to allow his client to be remanded in the custody of EFCC pending the determination of her bail application, on the grounds that she was suffering from hypertension and diabetes.
Details later…